Save the Fashion Industry, Save the World! How We Can Make a Greener Future

Sustainability has become a key issue in the fashion industry over the past year, thanks in part to the widely covered documentary The True Cost and the launch of H&M and Kering’s garment-recycling program. But even with all the buzzy press, turning fashion into a greener industry remains an uphill battle, with plenty of technological, systematic, and business struggles to overcome. Last night at Glasgow Caledonian University New York, Simon Collins and Julie Gilhart discussed some of the issues in their second Fashion Garage conversation. Here, five takeaways from the evening.

1. The product should always come first.
“The customer is not asking for sustainable fashion, they want great fashion, and they want good product priced at a price they can afford,” said Gilhart to the young designers in the crowd. “If you can add in that it’s made well, that’s great, but it’s added value.” Collins seconded the notion: “It’s got to be a really good compelling product that you want—it doesn’t matter how responsible it is. If it’s not nice and they don’t want it, they’re not going to want it just because it’s responsible.”

2. Use social media to your benefit.
Many of the designers in the audience wondered how to get the word out about their sustainable practices. To Gilhart and Collins the solution is simple: social media. Touching on the issue of desire, Collins explained, “The harsh reality is that nobody cares where it’s made, they just don’t because it’s just a bag in the end, and either they like the bag or they don’t. But if they do like the bag, you have this great opportunity, which is free social media, and the other ways of promoting you didn’t used to have.”

3. Accept that consumer shopping habits won’t change.
The easy answer is to tell people to shop less, but who’s going to listen? Gilhart believes our focus should be on making production more environmentally friendly through materials and recycling techniques. “We need to look at what’s being produced, and make it better. You’re going to have the girls that are hoarders that want to buy 20 pieces of something and then they want to throw it away and get another 20 pieces. I don’t think you can change that, but I think you can change those 20 pieces. If they’re made well and they’re circular and they can be upcycled or reused, then all right. That’s okay.” Another thing not going away? Fast fashion. “The statistics say that there’s going to be the need for the one-dollar dress. Instead of the $15.99 dress, it’s a dollar,” explained Gilhart to gasps. The need then becomes finding a way to keep costs down while putting eco practices into place.

4. Focus on materials.
With all the information about sustainability being circulated, it can be hard figuring out how to make a difference. Gilhart advises designers to focus on the materials they’re using. “There’s a huge focus on materials right now and how you can make materials better, and it’s not just organic,” she noted. “If I were a designer starting out, I would be looking at where I get my materials from, who knows about good materials, who’s innovating, who’s sharing knowledge. There are tons of resources, you just have to dig—but it’s all about materials.”

5. Vote with your wallet.
For consumers, the first step in taking action is to “vote with your wallet,” as Collins put it. “Everyone in this room, it’s your fault, and mine, because we buy this crap. If we weren’t buying it they wouldn’t be selling it, so we have power, not them,” he said. “It’s up to us. We have to be responsible. And the good news, of course, is that in our phones we have every bit of information that’s ever existed, so it’s impossible to not know what you’re buying.”